50 mistakes in 100 days (31-35)

By Howard Dawber

Over 100 days ago, Britain woke up to a new coalition government. In that time they have already displayed extraordinary economic illiteracy and are beginning to champion a dangerous mix of cruelty and cheerful incompetence, perhaps already worse than any government in living memory.

Here are the numbers thirty-one to thirty-five of the top 50 things they have done wrong … so far…

31. ABOLISHING THE AUDIT COMMISSION
The Audit Commission was set up by the last Tory government in 1983 as a way of improving and monitoring management of local government, the police, fire services and the NHS. Since it was founded it has proved to be exremely effective, helping councils benchmark their services, helping central government discover what works and what doesn’t work. It has practically eliminated some of the problems local government faced in the 1980s where councils would overextend themselves, borrowing and spending too much, and threatening local services. In recent years their anti-fraud drive has saved an estimated £600m of taxpayers’ money. Communities Secretary Eric Pickles has decided to abolish it.

Why is it a bad idea? The coalition says it wants to give local councils more freedom – and that abolishing the Audit Commission will take away a whole load of targets and bureaucracy. But the Audit Commission helps councils run more efficiently – if it is abolished councils and central government will have to spend more money on outside consultants to find out the same things and to share good practice – and the government will have no-one checking that local councils are spending their money properly. Pickles has also said that private companies will do the auditing from now on – a huge bonanza for private accountancy firms who stand to make bumper profits at the expense of local tax payers – and the first stage in a wave of privatisation in local government.

32. ABOLISHING THE NEW “GO ORDERS” PROTECTING WOMEN FROM DOMESTIC VIOLENCE
On Friday 16 July, addressing the Women’s Aid National Conference, ConDem Home Secretary Theresa May said, “Let me make clear: my ambition is nothing less than ending violence against women and girls”. She also said that achieving an end to domestic abuse “was a priority for me in opposition and it is a priority for me now I am in government. So have no fear – have no doubt – that your cause is my cause.” In August, she decided to scrap a new scheme which would protect women from domestic abuse by removing their violent partner. The scrapping of the so-called ‘go orders’ roll-out is part of a cuts package of £2.5bn from the Home Office budget.

Why is it a bad idea? David Chaplin, a spokesman for the NSPCC children’s charity, said the organisation was “deeply disappointed” by the move. He said: “We strongly supported the orders. They would have given some vital respite to the victims of abuse.” The Home Affairs Select Committee recommends ‘go orders’ as an “inexpensive” measure in protecting victims of domestic abuse and says similar schemes “have proved effective in other European countries”.

33. CUTTING FUNDING FOR CHILDREN’S PLAYGROUNDS

The coalition has frozen grants allocated to 132 local authorities to pay for 1,300 new childrens play areas – many of which have been designed by the children themselves.

Why is it a bad idea? Because playgrounds help cut obesity, and provide healthy outdoor spaces for communities. Children should be encouraged to think about how they interact with each other and many will be bitterly disappointed that the new play space they have designed will now not be built.

34. RAISING RAIL FARES BY UP TO 8%

In opposition Tory MPs complained about high rail fares and talked about how they were the new champions of rail travel. The Lib Dem manifesto promised to cut rail fares by keeping any increase capped at one per cent below inflation. Now we are being warned that fares – already planned to rise by 5% in line with inflation – may go up by 8% in January due to cuts in the Department for Transport’s budget.

Why is it a bad idea? Higher fares put people off rail travel, reduce Britain’s competitiveness, and encourage more car travel which is environmentally less efficient. So much for the ConDems being pro-rail.

35. ABANDONING ENVIRONMENTAL TARGETS

In opposition and in the coalition talks, the Conservatives and Liberal Democrats said they would introduce strict new emissions targets to reduce the amount of greenhouse gases, particularly from power stations. In 2006 Cameron first proposed the idea, pointing to the experience of California. In June 2006, Cameron said: “I can announce today that a Conservative government will follow the Californian model, and implement an Emissions Performance Standard.”

Now, according to the Guardian, they have decided not to include these new targets in their energy legislation this autumn.

Why is it a bad idea? This is yet another example of the ConDems saying one thing and doing another. It also opens the door for a new generation of coal-fired power stations like Kingsnorth. Having opposed much of Labour’s environmental targets and legislation while talking up their green credentials, and using the Kingsnorth issue to attack Labour, the Tories are reverting to type now in Government and backtracking on their commitments. Greenpeace said: “if they u-turn on this and fail to put (the targets) in their new energy law, how can they claim to be the greenest government ever?”.